Bill Whatcott, Canada’s most hysterical anti-gay activist, has headed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

I’ve talked a lot about Whatcott in the past, but here’s a quick recap: He was fined in 2005 for violating Saskatchewan hate laws by repeatedly distributing fliers calling gay people child molestors, dismissing all gay people as “sodomites,” and describing their relationships as “filth.” He also routinely included graphic images of sexually transmitted disease symptoms (such as anal warts and various other unpleasantries), attributing their existence largely to gay people.

While the hate ruling was upheld by the Queen’s Bench in 2007, it was overruled in 2010 by an appeals court ruling. And now the case has headed to Canada’s highest court.

I don’t know what the Supreme Court will rule in this case; it’s a complicated issue, which is why it has been getting a lot of media attention. I’ve previously talked at length at about what the purpose of Canada’s hate laws are for (the gist is that I do think they can serve a useful purpose), but here’s some extra food for thought on this case I think might be worth pondering. (I’m not saying I’m right on all counts, or even consistent, but it’s an interesting case so here we go!)

If I distributed fliers falsely asserting a local CEO is a child molester, I’d probably be sued for libel without any controversy. I guess distributing fliers claiming an entire group of people are child molesters is different, then?

Being offended isn’t the same as being a victim; being wrongly accused of destroying society in public, on the other hand…

There are some really effective ways to respond to Bill’s nonsense without relying on Canada’s hate laws. (My favourite was a fundraising effort where a small donation would be made to GLBT organisations for every one of Bill’s fliers that was collected.)

You know, I don’t think many of us will have ever heard of Mr. Whatcott in the first place if he weren’t continuously put into courts and human rights tribunals where he can set himself up as a martyr.

I wish that all the people who disagree with what Bill has to say, but will defend to the death his right to say it, would spend at least a little effort doing the disagreement part.

It’s possible to express incorrect and generally idiotic thoughts about homosexuality without actually harassing and inciting hatred against gay people. In fact, I seem to recall posting a story where someone did this… Let’s see, to find it, click on Archive, followed by any freakin’ link in the entire history of this site.

Perhaps giving people a reason to pause and think about how they want to say something isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Having the right to do something doesn’t make it the right thing to do.

Why do the most vocal proponents of Whatcott’s right to distribute wrong information about gay people tend to be the same people that think scientifically-backed information about gay people distributed in schools is an infringement of their rights?

Why is Bill so obsessed about gay people in the first place? I mean, even I give Chef Boyardee a break now and then.

Anyway, I’m not going to follow this story anymore, so if you want to know what happens look elsewhere.

Nah, I’m totally kidding! I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one, kids! In the meantime, if you’ve got anything to add, I encourage you guys to discuss this on Facebook and Twitter!

Bill Whatcott, Canada’s most strangely obsessed anti-gay activist, will soon be the subject of quizzical contemplation by Canada’s highest court.

Whatcott was fined nearly a decade ago after distributing hateful, anti-gay fliers in Saskatchewan, but won an appeals court ruling in February on the grounds that distributing fliers is part of his freedom of expression.

The fliers really weren’t very nice. “Our children,” one pamphlet reads in part, “will pay the price in disease, death, abuse and ultimately eternal judgement if we do not say no to the sodmoite desire to socialize your children into accepting something that is clearly wrong.”

“Sodomites,” another read, “are 430 times more likely to acquire AIDS and three times more likely to sexually abuse children.”

It should go without saying that all the pamphlets were really, really, really wrong—factually and morally. So, unhappy with the appeals court ruling, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Comission asked the Supreme Court to visit the case, and they agreed.

Now, having the same level of legal understanding as… let’s say a massive, multinational corporation, I remain utterly clueless as to what the Supreme Court will find. Personally, I feel that freedom of expression is an important right, but I don’t think that necessarily means you can go around making all sorts of wacky, unfounded accusations that gay people are bringing about the children apocalypse. Sounds a lot like slandering an entire minority to me, and I hope that’s what Canada’s provisions against inciting hatred are meant to prohibit.

One thing’s pretty clear to me, though. This guy is gay-obsessed. I mean, I’m actually gay and I still don’t have as much gay-on-the-brain as this guy. Off the top of my head: In addition to crafting and distributing hysterically nutty pamphlets, Whatcott once lead Regina’s Gay Pride parade with anti-gay signage, picketted outside private Planned Parenthood clinics declaring the workers there to be “disseminators of AIDS,” and even ran for mayor of Edmonton with a completely anti-gay platform. “As your mayor,” his official platform opened, “Bill Whatcott is committed to protecting Edmontonians from homofascism.”

Right. Well, here’s hoping the Supreme Court will protect us from whatcottcrazyism!

Bill Whatcott, Canada’s most hysterically obsessed anti-gay activist, does not have to pay $17,500 in fines after successfully challenging a Human Rights Tribunal ruling in Saskatchewan.

Whatcott was fined in 2005 over a “clear pattern or practice of disregard for protected rights,” sparked largely over some insane, anti-gay fliers.

The ruling was upheld by the Court of the Queen’s Bench in 2007, but the appeals court overturned the ruling, saying that the fliers didn’t violate Canada’s hate speech laws by inciting hatred and violence, and were therefore protected by freedom of expression.

Bill Whatcott, a hysterical anti-gay activist, male nurse, and former mayoral candidate, must pay a $17,000 fine for violating human rights after an appeal of a 2005 ruling was denied.

Whatcott was fined two years ago for what the human rights tribunal called “a clear pattern of practice of disregard for protected rights.” The complaint was launched against him in retaliation of a mass mailing that called gay people pedophiles and child molesters. He was found guilty to having incited hatred, but refused to pay the fine (and unwittingly raised money for some truly worthwhile causes).

As the mere thought of gay people being right makes all of Bill’s eye capillaries burst, he has vowed to bring his case to the provincial appeals court.

Incidentally, Bill was in the news earlier this year for his unusual campaign to run for Mayor in Edmonton’s October municipal election. His platform was based almost entirely on an anti-gay agenda, but included promises to alter zoning bylaws to prohibit abortion clinics, dismantle Edmonton’s hate crime’s unit, and end all funding for animal shelters and the arts.

So what’s his top election issue? Timely road repairs? Discount transit fares for war veterans? Let’s take a look at his official platform’s opening paragraph:

As your mayor Bill Whatcott is committed to protecting Edmontonions from homofascism. Bill Whatcott loves children and he loves truth. He believes children have the God given right to have a mother and father and not have to be indoctrinated into embracing homosexuality by our public schools and media. […] Homosexuality is wrong and as your Mayor, Bill Whatcott is committed to denouncing homosexuality, warning young people about the consequences of indulging in the practice and calling on those trapped in the homosexual lifestyle to repentance, forgiveness and healing through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Yes, that ought to resonate with the mainstream voter. Oh, and his campaign photo (I swear, this is all real) is a full-torso shot, arms folded behind the back for maximum legibility of his T-Shirt: “Sodomites will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven.”

Of course, though they may try, municipal leaders are about as powerful as multicoloured baby marshmallows when it comes to overriding civil rights. Given this, I think I’ll give Whatcott my full endorsement. Seriously, who’s in for a couple of years of hilarious “Edmonton’s frothy mayor” stories?

Remember Bill Whatcott? His hysterical anti-gay stance has won him repeated human rights violations and a job suspension, but that doesn’t seem to stop him from distributing hate literature. Now a local activist group might have him re-thinking his strategy.

Bill Whatcott, the anti-gay activist who had his nurse’s license suspended, has been ordered to pay $17,000 for repeated human rights violations. The kicker? He’s refusing to pay.

In an open letter hand-delivered to 3500 households, Whatcott explained his rationale for the civil disobedience, painting himself as a saviour of children—who he says are in immediate danger of being molested by homosexuals. Observe his ever-so-moving penmanship:

It is a fact that a greater percentage of homosexuals molest children than their heterosexual counterparts. Sodomites only consist of between 2 – 3% of the population. Yet they commit of over 33% of the reported sex offences.

Charming. I feel the sympathy already. Gee, Bill, I can’t imagine how you were found guilty of hate crimes…

Incidentally, the paper that Whatcott cited for the above “fact” was written by one Dr. Timothy Dailey (Ph.D in religion) and published by the anti-gay lobby group “Family Research Council.” It has been thoroughly disproved and runs contrary to every single peer-reviewed study on the subject. Even the suppliers of the statistics that Dr. Tim cited to arrive at his conclusion have decried the work as deceptive manipulation. One, Dr. Nicholas Groth, even demanded that any reference to his work be removed from the offending paper; an extraordinarily rare move in the academic community.

Whatcott knows all this, but hey—can you blame him? I mean, his only other choice is to do something crazy like, I dunno, be big enough to admit that his actions were libelous and wrong and accept the consequences.

Bill Whatcott, a nutty Saskatchewan nurse, lost an appeal to have his nursing license un-suspended this week for defaming the health association Planned Parenthood. Whatcott was picketing Planned Parenthood’s Regina office in 2003, harassing their patients, shouting derogatory slogans, and calling the workers there “sodomites,” “murderers,” and “disseminators of AIDS.” Charming lad, no?

Of course, this suspension isn’t anything new to Billy, as he’s been fined multiple times in the past for inciting hatred toward gays, including $17,000 just last year for mailing out flyers jam-packed with his own brand of magical fantasy facts like: “sodomites are 430 times more likely to acquire AIDS and three times more likely to sexually abuse children.”

Now, there’s no word on how Billy did on his bedside manner courses back in college, but I’m guessing it might have been in the… oh, D, maybe D- area.